The District 87 school board should adopt school uniforms for all D87 students. Parents would save money if students wore uniforms.On average, parents spend $690 for school clothes (Rebecca Klein, Huffpost Education, 2015). School uniforms only cost $250 a year. With the ever-increasing issues of families trying to meet housing and transportation costs, parents would greatly benefit from spending less on clothes. Of course, some students worry about losing their individuality with everyone dressing the same.However school uniforms reduce behavioral issues in schools. “...violence in uniform schools is lower than that of other schools” (Green Garage: The Eco Friendly Blog). When I ask students what they would like to see change at BJHS, many want less bullying and drama.School uniforms could be a way for students to find more peace at BJHS and for parents to save money. I encourage the school board to help D87 families and require school uniforms.

Part Four: Informative/ResearchAfter selecting one research topic, which will be discussed in class, write a brief research report about what you learned. Include a list of your sources.Topic: VotingEssential Question/s:

What is the history of voting in the United States?

What is the current controversy related to voter registration?

Report: In 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King said, "We must have our freedom now. We must have the right to vote. We must have equal protection of the law." In the same year, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act in law. While this law represents major progress in our democracy of voting, issues continue to arise, even today.

The first Americans started voting in 1776, but these voters were only white, Christian (not Catholic) men who owned land or a home. By 1869, all men secured the right to vote, but women waited another 50 years. Although more people were given the right to vote, in order to actually register to vote, a person had to be a citizen. Between 1778 and 1948, various groups challenged who could be considered a citizen. Major victory occurred in 1965 with the Voting Rights Act. It finally seemed that equality had won.

Unfortunately, only a few years ago, more issues began to arise causing concerns about inequalities in the voting process. In 2011, Southern States like Texas, South Carolina and Florida changed their voter registration laws, such as requiring photo ID or a literacy test. In 2014, a Texas challenge went to the Supreme Court, which upheld the new ID requirement. Judge Ginsberg dissented, writing “A sharply disproportionate percentage of those voters are African-American or Hispanic,” she added, adding that “racial discrimination in elections in Texas is no mere historical artifact.” In North Carolina, 94-year Rosanelle Eaton, is fighting her state’s literacy test and photo ID requirements. As a woman who lived through the Jim Crow era, she feels that the current movement is a move back towards this racially unjust time.

Certainly, major progress has been made from the first vote when only a small minority of men could vote. However, the right to vote is a right that American citizens cannot take for granted. Dr. King lived long enough to see the Voting Rights Act signed into legislation, but if he were alive today, he would be marching for voter registration equality.Sources (each title hyperlinked)